BOBBY Spezzano, the 6-foot-3, 17-year-old captain of the Greenwich, Conn., HS basketball team, volunteers as a coach to youngsters in the Greenwich Basketball Association and lives in a modest low-rise, low-income apartment with his mother, stepfather and brother.

Drew Gladstone, 16, a rookie on Spezzano’s team, lives with his parents and brother in a sprawling mansion with a driveway so long he used to drive up and down it in a golf cart before he had a car license, neighbors say.

The two kids, from opposite sides of the track, have been friends since they first played basketball together in grade school.

Tomorrow, the friendship will be tested like never before when the pals head to court with three other youths after an incident that has not only shocked their small Connecticut town, but has put the spotlight on contrasts within its tightly knit community.

Spezzano and Gladstone – along with fellow Greenwich High students Kellen Nins, 16, Lawrence Haywood, 17, and a 15-year-old who can’t be named because of his age – were arrested last weekend by machine-gun-wielding SWAT cops who say they intercepted the youths as they were about to commit the armed robbery of a tiny stationery shop near the town center.

Cops say they caught the teens in possession of a plastic replica of a weapon described by one officer as looking like a sawed-off shotgun.

All five were charged with attempted robbery in the first degree. Other weapons charges were brought against three of the group. If convicted, the youths could each face up to 20 years in jail. They are set to be arraigned tomorrow in Stamford’s Superior Court.

Greenwich, a picturesque town known for its storybook mansions and Maserati dealers, was just recovering from the media attention created by the drawn-out trial of Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel, who was convicted of the murder of his neighbor Martha Moxley when they were teens nearly 30 years ago.

As the town tries to come to grips with this new case, many in Greenwich are asking questions – and not just wondering what these kids were thinking when they plotted their alleged crime.

Spezzano’s parents have filed a complaint against a cop for allegedly using excessive force and inappropriate language in the arrest. Neither cops nor parents would comment on the complaint.

More pointedly, friends of some of the boys involved have questioned whether a SWAT team would have been called if four of the five teens had been white and not black.

In an exclusive interview with The Post, Spezzano insisted that he and his good friend Gladstone were trying to stop the others going ahead with their robbery plan. But they were caught in the cops’ sting that was set up after a tip, believed to have come from another Greenwich High student, whose name has not been disclosed.

The two pals were nabbed parked near the store where they had driven in a 2003 Lincoln Escalade owned by Gladstone’s mother – a vehicle that has been impounded by cops.

“As captain of the basketball team, I’m the leader. I had to try to stop them,” Spezzano said.

His story could not be corroborated by Gladstone, who on legal advice has declined all media interviews.

THE other youths involved in the alleged attempted robbery also have scrambled for good lawyers.

Nins, another member of Spezzano’s basketball team, has engaged Michael Sherman, who represented Skakel in the Moxley trial.

Nins’ father, the Rev. Thomas Nins from Greenwich’s First Baptist Church, was quoted in the local press last week as saying his son intended to plead guilty at tomorrow’s arraignment. Speaking from behind a closed front door at his house next door to the church, the reverend declined an interview with The Post.

Sherman told The Post that the report on Nins’ intended plea was wrong but he said of his teenage client, “This young man takes responsibility for his own actions. That’s a breath of fresh air.”

Friends say Nins was active in the local National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and on other sports teams.

Haywood, who lives with his grandmother in a modest apartment, could not be reached for comment. Friends said he was popular at school.

“Lawrence is the class clown. He may get in trouble for talking too much, but that’s about it,” one said.

Spezzano’s relatives told The Post they could not believe the high achiever was involved in such a nightmare.

“This young man is on his way to college. He is captain of the basketball team, has a strong grade point average and has never been in trouble before,” said one relative, who asked not to be named.

“Bobby didn’t become captain of the team by being lazy and sitting around. He’s a leader, used to motivating others. He was doing what he always does – just being himself and looking out for his friends.

“At 17, he’s still a child. Things like this can ruin his emotions, his life. He’s very scared. Bobby is a very good kid. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Gladstone is in honors classes, schoolmates say.

Meredith Graves, 16, described him as “the nicest kid ever.”

“For Valentine’s Day, he brought all the girls roses. Whenever you’re in a bad mood or look sad, he’ll ask what’s wrong and make you feel better. Once when my feet hurt, he carried me to the nurse.”

Joy Kull, 15, said Gladstone had lots of school friends and was regarded as “really smart.”

“This was so unexpected. He’s the only one our teacher likes,” she said.

A mother of another member of the basketball team, who was not involved in the incident, said the arrests of the five teens had provided a reality check for many in the sleepy town.

“Greenwich is affluent, but there is a large percent of working class people and nobody from outside sees the diversity,” she said.

“One of the positive things about sports is that teams become a melting pot for everybody. The basketball team is very diverse, and all the kids get along. They are all good kids. As a parent, everyone is talking to their kids and trying to figure out what happened.”